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COMMENTARY ~~<\/p>\nCOMMENTARY ~~<\/p>\n
\nMy favorite phase of the tide of change reshaping the city was the flourishing of artists\u2019 studios and co-ops. Relatively low costs, empty buildings, and a critical mass of creative people lent the town an enviable, almost bohemian air. Peter Voulkos, the great sculptor, dined at Bucci\u2019s, and the walls of a variety of businesses were graced with Emeryville-produced art. The residue of this flourishing still exists despite the rise of rental costs and other challenges. Whatever else happens, I hope Emeryville keeps giving artists breathing room.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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\nI came to Emeryville in 1979 expecting to stay a few years.\u00a0 Thirty-one years on, I\u2019m still here.\u00a0 Not surprisingly, things are different.\u00a0 The great shift from a blue collar town of foundries and industrial shops to one featuring high-tech fabricating, office buildings, and retail shopping centers was already under way in the later 70\u2019s.\u00a0 The trend would accelerate.<\/p>\nPolitics was undergoing a sea-change, too.\u00a0 When I arrived, then Chief-of-Police John Lacoste ran the town, some say from his favorite bar stool at the Town House, a hub of live music performances: Zideco, jazz, country and western, rock.\u00a0 Whether old timers had it right about that bar stool, Lacoste was the man to see if you wanted to rezone, build or get other things done.\u00a0 In just a few years, that one-man show was gone, and a new, development-oriented city council called the shots.<\/p>\n
My favorite phase of the tide of change reshaping the city was the flourishing of artists\u2019 studios and co-ops.\u00a0 Relatively low costs, empty buildings, and a critical mass of creative people lent the town an enviable, almost bohemian air.\u00a0 Peter Voulkos, the great sculptor, dined at Bucci\u2019s, and the walls of a variety of businesses were graced with Emeryville-produced art.\u00a0 The residue of this flourishing still exists despite the rise of rental costs and other challenges.\u00a0 Whatever else happens, I hope Emeryville keeps giving artists breathing room.<\/p>\n
You might think of Emeryville as a metaphor for the United States in terms of economic change.\u00a0 Both town and nation make less, relatively speaking, than we used to.\u00a0 Our economies have shifted dramatically from industrial production to financial services, retail, and the like.\u00a0 Predicting the future is a mug\u2019s game, but the Great Recession we\u2019re living through hints at the challenges both nation and city might face.<\/p>\n
Keeping Emeryville vibrant in an era of stagnating real wages for working people, of rising public debts\u2014national, state, and local—, and of what might be long-term underemployment is a daunting task.\u00a0 I don\u2019t have any easy answers about how to do it.\u00a0 The best I can suggest to my fellow local citizens is this: pay attention to what\u2019s going on; stay in touch with city staffers and elected officials; think of ways to keep the town livable; and don\u2019t be shy about throwing your ideas for a livable Emeryville into the political pot.<\/p>\n
Bill Reuter<\/strong> has lived at Watergate in Emeryville since August 1979.\u00a0 An Emeritus Professor of History at Cal State, East Bay, Bill specializes in history of American political culture.<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n
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